A/N: This is the first time I've published something here that hasn't been written out to completion on notebook paper. Hope you enjoy, and that I don't disappoint anyone who chooses to follow or review! Reviewers get a cup of snake and spider stew and a whole lot of eternal gratitude.
Fun With Jack and Sally
a Lock, Shock, and Barrel friendship and a JackxSally
Hungry Hungry Mischief Makers
Knock knock knock The trio froze. Barrel stopped licking his ever-present lollipop. Shock's fist paused around Lock's tail, and Lock's teeth stilled in the top of Shock's ear. For a moment, nobody moved. Then, as if on an unspoken cue, all three thawed at once. Lock went for a pitchfork that was sticking out of the wall while Shock pushed Barrel behind her with one foot. Barrel squatted down and scooped up a scorpion that was scuttling across the floor. Then the trio crept around the couch: Barrel behind Shock, and Shock slightly behind Lock. The three could count on one hand the number of people that knew they even lived out here. They'd had prisoners and they'd had rescue raids (mostly headed by Jack), along with the rare summons from the Mayor after one misdemeanor too many. They'd never had a reason to look forward to company. And they'd certainly never had anyone who knocked. The Mayor yelled through his megaphone. Jack broke in and usually didn't bother to ascend beyond the gambling pit. Oogie never- well, HAD never- left his pit, and he'd bellowed when he'd wanted their attention.
Lock hefted the pitchfork over his shoulder and edged towards the little landing that opened out of the tree. The cage teetered, occupied by a more unwieldy payload than it was used to. A tall figure squatted awkwardly inside, clinging to the bars as it swayed rather alarmingly. The three shrank back. "It's Jack!" squawked Barrel, in his loudest whisper. "I knew that raiding the pumpkin patch was a dumb idea!" hissed Lock. Shock folded her arms. "You expect me to make a meal out of three crusty centipede segments and some raspberry tea?"
"Shhh- maybe we can pretend we didn't do it," Barrel gulped, huddling between the other two. "Oh, I'm sure they'd believe us," Lock snorted, making no effort to rein in his scorn. "Shhhh- shut up." Shock ordered. Lock's hands balled into fists. "You know, I've about had it up to here-" and he indicated the space between his horns- "With you telling me to—" Then he heard it too. A yelp. A small, feminine yelp. All three listened carefully. "That's not Jack," Lock muttered.
Shock rolled her eyes, saying Duh without wasting her breath doing so. Barrel tipped his head. "Who is it?" Shock flipped the outside light on. Two wide eyes immediately squinched in protest. Sally blinked rapidly as her neck involuntarily craned back a few inches. Lock smacked Barrel in the back of the head. "How'd you mistake her for Jack?" "We're not out of the woods yet," mumbled Shock, slowly sliding a medieval flail off of the couch. Lock's eyes widened. "You don't think…" "…That Jack sent her?" Barrel squeaked. "Maybe he did and maybe he didn't." Shock ventured a few feet closer and glowered at the conspirator in question. Sally didn't look angry, nor did she seem particularly preoccupied with dreaming up new and awful punishments. She just wobbled there, squinting, doing her best to keep a large covered bundle balanced in her lap. Lock edged in front of Shock and poked suspiciously at the blanket covering the bundle while the witch girl ran one finger slowly along one of the flail's spikes. "What's in there?" "It's for you." The ragdoll replied. The trio exchanged a three-way look of alarm.
Barrel peeked out from around the brim of Shock's hat as Lock snagged a corner of the hand-stitched blanket and unceremoniously yanked. The other two held their breaths and Lock's jaw tightened as the blanket puddled around Sally's knees to reveal—a basket with a pumpkin pie in it? The devil boy's grimace of intense concentration shifted to a scowl of utmost suspicion as he slowly pulled the pie out. "What's wrong with it?" "Nothing!" Sally replied, her voice rising a little as the change in balance and a small gust of wind sent the cage swaying further than she'd been acclimating to. She recovered, but still looked a little bit shaken. Shock got as up in her face as she could without actually stepping out of the tree and plummeting into the fog below. "And why should we believe anything you say?" "It tastes like just pie to me," Barrel mumbled. Lock and Shock whirled around to find their youngest comrade munching on a handful he'd scooped out of the tin.
"Barrel!" Shock shrieked, both angry and dismayed. "Here- you try some." And before she could recoil, he'd stuck a dollop between her lips. The bossy trick-or-treater spluttered and screwed up her face to spit. Lock watched as her expression melted into one of dreamy-eyed bliss. She swallowed. As Lock glared daggers at her, the witch girl sheepishly offered, "I- I didn't taste any poison." "She could have ground something up so we couldn't taste it!" Lock yelled, exasperated. The other two weren't listening to him. Lock wavered, arms folded tight to his small chest distrustfully. In the end, the drool-inducing mellow smell won out. It wasn't long before all three were on their knees, pawing huge hunks out of the pie and stuffing them into their mouths, trying to get the offering from the tin to their tummies as fast as they possibly could. Sally managed, through some trial and error, to scramble into the relative safety of the weapon-riddled living room. Not a child noticed. Far too soon, all three were sucking the last tidbits from between their fingers and scraping along the bottom of the fairly battered pie tin.
Sally knelt next to Barrel. Shock stared at her warily. "You came all the way over here to give us a pie?" The redheaded experiment shook her head. "No." She shifted her leg out of a curious cockroach's path. "I came all the way over here to invite you to dinner." "And why should we go to dinner with you?" demanded Lock, still smelling a trick. Her gentle eyes met his. "Because a little bit of pumpkin isn't going to be enough for three growing trick-or-treaters." The three exchanged another group look. Round one went to the ragdoll.